From Winter to Spring
by smallwoodlandplant
Summary: In the wake of Sasuke's death, Sakura is left to test the limits of love. :SasuSaku: :Drabble Series:
1. One

**.**

The crisp winter air makes her no more cold than she already is. She is frozen to the bone- not from the bitter weather, but from the information she had been informed just a week earlier.

Sasuke- the boy whom she had pledged her love for so many times and vowed to bring back, was _dead_.

A shiver went through her body as she approached the grave. Tsunade had been kind enough to allow him to lie in the cemetery next to his deceased family. The cemetery by now though was overgrown my weeds of all sorts, and Sakura was really the only person who ever visited.

But now- what was she suppose to do? She failed. She had promised to bring him back alive, promised to not let him fall into the dark. And now he was laying in a coffin in the ground as a result of her weakness.

A bitter sob shook her body. Her eyes fell upon his plain and simple gravestone. "Sorry Sasuke-kun... I'm so sorry..." But apologies did her nothing by now, and all that was left for her to do was weep at his grave as she thought of everything she could have done and everything she had done wrong, how it was her fault that he would never get to see the cherry blossoms blooming this year with her.

**.**


	2. Two

.

Everything is crippled this year. Her body- which feels as though it has been smashed into a million pieces, the cherry trees, which seem to be trying to fight off the lingering winter, and her heart, which has no chance of recovering. All she wants to do is join Sasuke, even if he would reject her wherever he happened to be.

"Sakura-chan! Let's get ramen!" Naruto has recovered quicker than Sakura, even though they are just a little over a week after receiving the news. Sakura has no energy to argue with him, so she allows him to pull her along blindlessly into the crowd of bustling people.

Naruto, still attached to the pinkette, feels his heart twist up in a knot for his best friend. It wasn't fair, he decided, that she had to be so hurt, that Sasuke had to go and fucking die on them. He gave another cautious look at the girl, who was still as bad at hiding emotions as ever. Pain and sorrow were sprawled across her face, her eyes seeming like endless pools of those emotions. He couldn't bare to look at them any longer, finding that it scared him to think of what would happen to her.

He wished he could say that she would brush this off and only get stronger. But as optimistic as he was, he couldn't help but think of the more realistic ending.

.


	3. Three

.

She finds herself at his grave again. The sun has been covered by the clouds, leaving her in the shade. She is pulling out any weeds within a ten foot radius of his grave, stomach sick and hurting. Blood trickles down her exposed leg, but she pays no attention to it, only continues on weeding.

_"Sakura," _the voice floats on the wind.

Her head snaps up, searching for the owner of it. Her eyes, as sharp as they are, cannot find the source. She can still clearly hear the words though, ringing through her head. She felt her breath catch as she remembered Sasuke's voice when he said her name, how even though he said so emtionlessly and even with annoyance, it made her insides tingle in the way innocent love does. She exhales, a puff of fog coming out. Not like that did her any good. That love, she thought bitterly, wasn't even very innocent.

Did innocent love leave such deep, such emotional scars?

_"Sakure," _the voice called once again.

"Shut up!" She screamed, and tears fell from her eyes that she pretended not to notice

.


	4. Four

.

He watched her.

He watched the girl on her hands and knees, taking care of a grave that she shouldn't even bother with.

And why, why was she bothering? Why was she even there? He was dead, he left her, he abandoned her! He had torn open her heart and laughed as she bled out, still telling him she loved him.

And she had the _nerve _to still care about him? The _nerve _to say sorry, like it was her fault? Who did she think she was, caring about him. Did she think that she would get anything from bothering with him, who was dead lying in a grave still as perfect looking as before.

He hears her whisper sorry, and a part of him he never knew he had when he was alive, clenches ever so slightly.

Then that boy comes. The one who was the closest thing to his best friend. The one whom he has unknowingly trusted Sakura to when he left. Naruto looks at the girl, and Sasuke is surprised to see how worried the blonde is. "Sakura-" He begins, a silent beg in his voice. "You should come back, it's cold out." As though to make his point, a cold burst comes through, making the two living shiver.

She doesn't respond, just keeps pulling the weeds.

.


	5. Five

.

Sakura hums a tune. It's solemn, and reminds her and Sasuke of the tune commonly played at funerals. She's not quite sure what's she's doing anymore, just sitting in the graveyard, maybe waiting for something.

She's not sure.

And as the rain begins to fall, she makes to effort to leave. She can't, her body won't allow her to. Her heart, her heart feels so heavy. She feels like she's chained to the ground, and the chains are heavy and iron, rubbing permanent marks into her ivory skin that will scar her.

Sasuke walks. He walks up to her, and partially drifts. He's not sure why he's doing it, not sure why he's even still stuck on this god-awful world he thought he left. He just does.

As he stands over her, the rain deceases from hitting her. He is an invisible barrier, and he finds that perhaps he has always been one.

.


	6. Six

.

His presence is there with her, and she can feel it. It is comforting. She's not quite sure how, but he is there. As though he is an invisible force, he seemingly helps her up from the ground so she is standing on her own two feet. And he leads her away from his grave, from the cemetery. He leads her away from the place that she is tied to more than him, even it is his body in the ground.

But Sasuke was no idiot, and he knew she'd be back like a lost puppy. And he knew the realistic ending for the situation Sakura was in. She digging her own grave, rather literally.

It's not liked he cared- at least that was what he told himself. But in actuality he couldn't believe the down hill spiral she was taking, how she was fading away in a way no one would have ever thought possible.

He raises her invisible hand to her soft cheek once they reach her small apartment. He is surprised that he can feel her, feel her skin which is chilled to the bone. Her cheek, pale almost colorless cheeks, are wet. They are wet from her own tears, because not a single drop of water has hit her on their way back to her home.

.


	7. Seven

.

Her home- a shabby apartment that makes him wonder how Naruto manages to allow her to live there- is neat and organized. Sasuke finds that he was expecting something that would hint at her current state of well-being. Because Sakura the person does not mirror the home in which she lives in, in fact she is almost the polar opposite of it.

He guides her to her bed, a mat on the floor. The comforter is old and worn, and Sasuke finds himself wondering why her parents don't do something about it. His eyes land on a picture, a picture of team seven. His dead heart clenches once more as he remembers who they used to all be, a stark contrast to their present selves. She is in between himself and Naruto, and in front of Kakashi. That picture, he finds, almost tells the story from their poses. If someone had gone back and examined it earlier, would they have been able to stop everything from unraveling?

There is a soft _thud _and he turns to find Sakura laying on the mat, atop the blankets. Her eyes are half lidded, and slick tears slide down her cheek even though her breathing is the only noise.

He's not sure why, but he lays his nonexistent body on the ground next to her, after wiping away some of her tears.

.


	8. Eight

**.**

There are a million things Sakura regrets. A million things that she would take back in a heartbeat if she ever got the chance to**. **A million things to dwindle and waste her time on.

She forced her eyes open, body aching from her breakdown the night before. Her mind throbbed, but what she saw made everything feel numb. He was hunched over her, a sad scowl on his face. His pale hand ghosted over her cheeks, and she could feel the tingling feeling they made when his fingertips came in contact with her ivory skin. Her breath hitched. She began to believe that she had finally lost her sanity, losing the little grip she had on reality. She spoke in a whisper, as though afraid that if she spoke to loud the image of him would disappear.

"Sasuke-kun...?"

He froze, and found himself locking eyes with her. She was staring right into him, right at him. She looked so frail and sick that his heart twisted for what felt like the millionth time. He was in shock, and instinctively pulled away from her.

They stayed in complete silence for what felt like years, but truly only a matter of seconds.

It then struck them both suddenly and fully. _She could see him_.

**.**


	9. Nine

**.**

She stares.

He stares back.

They are swallowed in a deep silence, one that neither could seem to break. Sakura felt like she was choking on it, like it was clogging up her throat and lungs. Sasuke- well Sasuke felt as though time had been pulled to a stand still, and when- if- it were to continue, he would go back to being visibly nonexistent in her eyes. So they stayed, and they stared until they both could have dropped a pin and it would have seemed like an avalanche.

Then she reached out her hand, and carefully moved it towards his face. She stopped, just when it was a few centimeters from his cheeks. It shook violently in fear that if she really did touch him, he'd disappear like a mirage. But he leaned forward, and she caressed his cheek in her trembling hand.

"Oh god... You really are here..."

She thanks god in her head, that if for once he had decided to answer her prayers, even if it was just out of pity.

Tears stream down her cheeks and dribble onto her shirt, making wet splotches. A shaky breath escapes her parched lips as he quietly breathes out the words, "I'm here... Sakura."

**.**


	10. Ten

.

Sakura's not sure how long they lay there.

She knows, deep down, that come tomorrow, he'll be gone.

But she doesn't go out, she doesn't do anything, just lay on the ground staring at th mold that's growing on the ceiling with him next to her. There's no super sweet words, and he doesn't profess his love to her then and there. He doesn't even say he missed her or anything like that, that he's sorry for everything he's done. There's none of that, and she never expected any of it.

She glances over at Sasuke, only to find that he is staring lazily at her. She wonders that maybe, in a different life, if they could have ever worked out. She glances at his hand, and wants to thread her fingers through his.

Instead she returns her gaze to the molding ceiling, and can feel it kill her slowly but surely.

She smiles and giggles.

.


	11. Eleven

.

A comfortable silence settles over them. Sasuke doesn't know what to say though, and wonders how any normal person could take the current situation so calmly. But he knows, Sakura is no normal person.

A cold burst flows through the apartment, and he can see Sakura shiver, and does nothing. "I hate winter," she says sighing heavily. "It seems to drag on forever, as though there is no end in sight. The only good thing that comes from it is that at the end of it, spring lies, full of new life and new beginnings." Her words, he finds almost sarcastic, and a bit ironic. He give a soft chuckle, one that is cold and unnerving. Because he knows that they both know that those two things don't apply to either of them. Spring will not result in a new life for him, and not a new beginning for her.

He is slightly happy though, because that means she will always be stuck with these memories of him.

At least someone won't foreget, and be able to get rid of him.

He raises his hand to her face, where her viridian eyes are gazing intently up at that god damn molding ceiling. He carelessly brushes away a pink lock that curls down the middle of her face to her lips. She won't _ever _be able to forget him.

.


	12. Twelve

**.**

Sakura wonder if there had ever been any love in their relationship from his side. It felt like it had always been her- she had always been the one pining away after something the two _could have _had. How many 'could have's did they have? Far too many probably.

He _could have _stayed. He could _have loved_ her back. They _could have_ been together. She_ could have_ saved him. He _could have_ still been alive.

She looked over at him, and his eyes were shut and he seemed to be sleeping. Could dead people sleep? she wondered. It didn't matter to her if they were suppose to or not. He seemed like he was, and that was enough for her. She wondered why he had even bothered hanging around her. When he was still alive (she hated those words so very much) he had never once seemed to care about her.

She stayed staring at his face, willing him to do something.

His eyes opened in a flutter, even in his current state his lashes still thick and heavy. His piercing onyx eyes stared right back at her, tearing her soul and heart out as he gazed upon her.

But he had come back, and she could see him.

That had to mean something.

**.**


	13. Thirteen

.

Neither of them are sure of how long they've been there, minimal talk, minimal movements. Longer than they probably should have, but no one is there to tell them that then, and even if they were neither would have moved. There's a knock on the door, and the ever loud voice of her- or is it still their?- best friend.

Sakura gets to her feet, or else she knows he'll break the door down. "Wait one second Sasuke," she whispers to him as she goes to the front door. Carefully she unlocks and opens it, revealing a smilig Naruto.

"'Morning Sakura-chan! I brought you some ramen and-" The blonde pauses, mouth agape. He shoves past Sakura, staring at the spot where Sasuke still lies Then, he shakes his head real quickly. "That was weird," he says, turning back to Sakura to get into the kitchen for chopsticks. "I could have just sworn I saw Sasuke." Sakura remains silent and Naurto seems rather horrified that he has mentioned the name. "Ah! Sorry-"

But Sakura smiles. It's a bit sad, but also caring. "It's fine Naruto. I know what you mean."

And she does, and it doesn't hurt anymore. Sasuke though wishes Naruto would leave, because he is a reminder of what Sakura can have, of what he is not. He tells himself though that she is still his- even in death.

But he wonders how true that really is.

.


	14. Fourteen

.

How long can she wait? Is what Naruto wants to know. How come she is waiting for something that will never come- a happy ending with Sasuke. He wants to scream in her father that this is ridiculous, it is so stupid. Why can't she except it? He wishes this, at least until he enters her apartment.

He knows Sasuke is there.

He knows he is.

A guardian angel?

No, Sasuke could never be one.

And besides, Naruto gets the eerie feeling that it is not the ending to this heartbreaking story. No, he gazes up at the moldy ceiling, knowing it is killing her, and cannot say anything about it. His mouth will not move, even though his insides twist and turn, telling him that even though that seems so insignificant, she has willing signed her death certificate.

But he cannot say anything, because it is her choice.

.


	15. Fifteen

.

"Goodnight Naruto," Sakura says. She's not tired, she doesn't want to sleep. If she sleeps, she has the terrible pit in her stomach that she'll wake to find Sasuke gone- and maybe all of this just some terrible figment of her imagination. Sasuke's happy the blonde is finally leaving, so Sakura can pay the utmost attention to _him _and only him. He's the dead one, not the obnoxious blonde. He's the one who even after losing his physical heart is still stranded on this hell hole of a planet.

He stays lying on her bed eyes closed as he unhappily thinks of everything that has happened to him.

Upon shutting and locking the, door, Sakura quietly heads to the kitchen. She removes a glass from the cupboard, and turns the tap on low. Filling it hallways, she shuts the water off. A quick glance at Sasuke, and she can't help but to smile slightly at his seemingly sleeping face. Could dead people sleep? She wasn't sure, and didn't really care to find out. Opening a small cupboard below the sink, she removed a small package of white powder. In a quick moment she had teared it open and dumped the contents into her water, watching it dissolve into nothing.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked, sitting up an emotionless look gracing his face.

Sakura shrugs her shoulders and quickly lifts the glass to her lips. "Nothing," she says before drinking all of the water down.

The mold was working much to slowly.

.


	16. Sixteen

.

She vaguely realizes she's crawling under the covers. Her mind is a blur, and she can feel the poison set in. The covers are warm and comforting, though they weigh her down to the point she can barely breathe. Or is that the poison too? Sasuke, Sasuke's till laying next to her, not cold, not anything. "You're going to be gone tomorrow, aren't you?" She asks, her breath faint and her heart swirling around inside herself.

She's just tired, he told himself. "Probably." He didn't know actually, there was still a good chance that he'd still stuck in this place, this world.

"Mkay..."

Her voice trails off, light and fading. It fades into nothing at all, just blank space that will never be filled again. A metaphorical pit forms in his stomach, she didn't even say goodnight to him like how he knows she usually would."Sakura?"

No answer.

"Sakura!"

It's silent, he can't even hear her breathing.

.


	17. Seventeen

.

Sasuke doesn't cry, he doesn't shout. He can't, his mind is completely frozen. She wasn't suppose to die, she wasn't suppose to. Life has always felt unfair to him, but this feels like the cruelest thing that could have ever happened. There's no saving her, no saving her from herself. She's beem doomed from the start. He touches her face, and it's still warm though there's no pulse under that porcelain skin. She's nothing more than an empty doll now, laying dead on the ground.

There's a knock on the door, and Sasuke feels his insides sink even lower. "Sakura? I left my wallet here-" There's the jungle of keys and the turning of the door knob, and Naruto steps in. "Sakura?" And he knows exactly what has happen as he stares at her body and realizes her chest in no longer rising and falling. A split second his spare keys for her apartment have tumbled to the ground. The crash and jingle as he rushes over to her lifeless body, shaking her, begging her to wake up. He sob, tears running down his face, that he can't stand to lose her too.

Sasuke wonders if perhaps the one the world was the cruelest to was actually Naruto, who had to witness it all without being able to do anything.

Something about seeing the blonde cry stirs Sasuke's cold, cruel, emotionless soul. "Sakura, why? Why?" He's not sure if he's sad, if he's mad, or if he's just truly confused about why she did it. But the air is filled with Naruto's sobs and Sasuke questions, but no Sakura.

.


	18. Eighteen

**.**

"...kura..."

"...Sakura..."

"Sakura!"

Viridian eyes snap open to stare at the onyx haired boy. A groggy look graces her face as she pulls herself up and off her best friends shoulder. Usually perfect school uniform is crumpled and in disdain. "Yeah Sasuke-kun...?" She asks, yawning and stretching. Her mind is still swirling, fromdream? No, it seemed so much more like a memory, she tells herself. It seemed like she was remembering something- and Sasuke was in it. It seemed so tragic, so sad. Almost like Romeo and Juliet, but slightly different. What was it? It's all still so clear to her, but also all blurry.

Sasuke has a light, almost nonexistent blush on his face. He still couldn't believe she fell asleep on him. "It's just... for a second it seemed like your heart stopped." He had been struck with something, not quite fear but almost deja vu. Had this happened before.

"Ah, I understand." She stands up from the park bench, stretching her arms up as Sasuke follows in suit. "I love spring, don't you? It's like a new beginning." She turns towards him and giggles. He begins to reply, but his phone buzzes. He pulls it out, flipping it open to check the message. "Ah... It's your girlfriend, isn't it?" She asks, a sad look falling upon her face.

Sasuke shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah, she wants to go on a date on Friday."

"Oh." Sakura turns away and begins to walk, before stopping. "There's some mold growing on my ceiling. I don' know what to do," She says, turning back towards him.

The raven haired boy sighs and walks up next to her, absentmindedly threading his fingers through hers. "How about I come over on Friday and take care of it? You know, if you breathe mold in long enough, it can kill you."

They start walking together, under the blooming cherry trees. Sakura smiles to herself, somehow feeling stronger than ever before, and content and happy. This life she feels like she will have a happy ending. She giggles once more, leaning into Sasuke who 'hns' in response. His hands are so much bigger than hers, and enclose around them tightly. "Seems like just yesterday it was winter, huh?"

**.**


End file.
